Family United
by AnonnyMousie
Summary: Shredder has a message to send to Master Splinter: Come out. And the second in command knows exactly how to get through to him: His heart-his sons. A lesson that they will not soon forget. Set in TMNT 2012 animated series. Rated for violence, may change later to an M.
1. Warning Messages

**AN: I don't own anything, this work is for entertainment purposes only. I hope you enjoy the story!**

**Warning Messages**

"MIKEY!" Raphael's voice carried through the crisp night air. His attention had been so intensely focused on Rahar that he had only a moment's notice to see his brother's beaten body rolling without halt to the edge of the tall building. On the spin of a dime, he dodged an attack and sprinted over to Michelangelo. It was close, but he had managed to just grab hold onto the edge of his shell and throw his momentum off and watch him slam into a concrete chimney. Harsh, but the former option was to let him fall off the building and there was no way that was going to happen to his little brother. "Raph, LOOK OUT!" Mikey's voice cracked as Rahzar took the moment's reprieve to his own advantage and brought down his mighty claws onto the red-banded turtle. Raphael only had enough time to spin around, his instincts bringing up his sais a half second too late. The razor claws ripped through flesh and shell, a front plate getting torn off in the process. Blood splattered everywhere and shell splintered off into sections onto the ground. "RAPH!" Mikey's chain wrapped around Rahzar's wrist and pulled him off his brother who was now down for the count spinning on his back to a sickening stop. Mikey let out a frustrated yell as he waved Rahzar in the air and away from his brothers. For the moment, he knew that there was no joking around. Raph was seriously hurt and he wasn't moving. For the youngest turtle, he knew that it could only mean trouble. Raphael could take hits, but this was something else.

When Rahzar hit the ground for a third time, the chain tightened as he dug his claws into the ground and refused another ride on the chain. Instead, he took the turtle's weapon in his own hand and yanked hard on it. Mikey lunged forwards, his face landing in the middle of Rahzar's palm and was held high above the enemy's head. He tried fighting against it to no avail. Rahzar was too strong. He was going to be used as a new throw toy. Rahzar took the turtle by his foot and dangled him upside down for a few moments, deciding which of his surroundings would make a harder impact against his shelled opponent.  
"HIIIIYAH!" A staff came in contact with his wrist followed up by rapid strikes to his face. The only thing he could do was let go, letting Mikey fall to the ground with a small 'oomph' and try and recuperate as best as he could. "Don't TOUCH THEM!"  
"Way to go...ugh...Donnie!" Mikey cheered, scrambling over to Raphael and pulling him off to the side and out of the way. He turned his attention towards Leonardo, who was fighting Tiger Claw, and tried to come up with a way to alleviate pressure from him. They weren't in a good position. They'd been forced into an unfavorable situation and there was no way they were going to win. Retreating wasn't an option with Raphael as wounded as he was.  
"Leo! Raph's down!" Mikey cried, hearing the singing of his brother's katanas resonate as he tried to keep up an admirable defense against the tiger mutant in front of him. He wouldn't look back. He had to take his word for it and keep up with the communication while focusing on his opponent. If he didn't keep at least Tiger Claw's presence off his brothers, they'd definitely be done for.  
"Get out of here!" He called out, blocking a few blasts from hitting Mikey behind him. Mikey looked over at Donatello now, seeing him pushing off the attacks from Rahzar with the distance benefit his staff gave him. "Leo's right! We'll hold them off!"  
Mikey looked down at Raphael and breathed harshly. He was given orders. But he didn't want to follow through. With a heavy heart, he picked up Raph by an arm and began to try and escape with him. The only way out of the situation he was in was to get to the sewers as quickly as possible without giving himself away but that was going to prove more difficult than in theory.  
"NOW!"  
"I'M TRYING, LEO!" He shouted back, feeling his knees buckling together. Rahzar had done a good number on him, but he couldn't let his brothers down. Forcing himself forwards a few steps may have been Donatello's downfall. Rahzar had taken note of their plan and became relentless. Tiger Claw was playing with his food, but he wasn't some cat. Taking Donatello by the shell, he raised him high in the air and slammed him down into the roof a few times, hearing a satisfying 'crunch' while doing so. Donnie's mind whirred as tried holding onto Rahzar's wrist to stop the mutant from doing too much damage, but it was no use. The blunt force had managed to shake his shell loose and his mind blacked in and out for moments at a time. When the shaking did stop, and he had the three seconds he needed to fight back, it proved to be more than futile. He had placed his staff in between himself and Rahzar and clicked out the blade, but the sudden metal digging into Rahzar's chest further angered him. He let out a primal roar and threw Donatello straight into a transformer box, shocking the turtle until he slunk deep into unconsciousness. "DONN-"  
Rahzar had picked out the staff and threw it straight at Mikey, the blade piercing straight through his shoulder and dropping Raphael in the process. "NO!" Leo abandoned Tiger Claw, watching Mikey stumble backwards against a wall and staring up wide-eyed at Rahzar. "Now, time to end you turtle freaks."  
Katanas met fur and bone as Leo forced Rahzar away from his brother. Mikey pulled out Donatello's staff from his shoulder and watched red blood flow freely from his wound. He could feel his mind reeling already from the shock and blood loss. "Leo..." He watched Tiger Claw slip into the shadows, waiting to pounce on his brother, and tried desperately to call out his brother's name. "Leo...!"  
He was too preoccupied with Rahzar. He was tiring fast. It was too much for one of them to handle on their own. "LEO!" Leonardo turned to look at Mikey and saw Tiger Claw standing above Mikey, claws poised for an attack, and felt a wave of powerlessness wash over him. He wasn't going to make it in time. "NO!" Tiger Claw's fists beat down into the turtle, impacting him into the roof, and stand atop his shell. His eyes bored a hole into Leonardo's and he began his slow march towards him. "You know why you can't win, turtle?"  
His foot kicked Rahael's body out of his way, meriting a groan from him. Leonardo's hands gripped tightly onto his katanas, backing up so he could keep both opponents in his view. "You're too inexperienced. Not good enough. And if your sensei cared anything about you, he'd show his face and give himself up. I didn't think he the type to not care about his pupils, much less his sons."  
There was a pause and Rahzar sped over to Leonardo, gripping his head with a hand and digging his claws deep into his skin. "Listen well, turtle."  
"Let my brothers go." Tiger Claw looked down at one of the teenagers and scoffed. "They're no use to me. I want your master, turtle. Let this be a warning to him. If he does not show himself next time we cross paths, I will finish you off. One by one." He pointed a gun at Leonardo and shot at him, Rahzar's claws shredding a large gash into his head and down his neck as he rapidly let go to get out of Tiger Claw's line of fire. The blue-banded turtle recoiled backwards into a pile of sand bags nearby, exploding upon contact. "You idiot! Are you trying to kill me!?"  
Tiger Claw didn't answer Rahzar's question, further angering him.

"Goodbye, turtle. Until we meet again." A few more blasts and Leonardo blacked out. His head throbbed painfully. It was only a momentary black out. He couldn't afford more than that. He needed to get his brothers help. "You know what to tell your master, turtle. I suggest you do it." After the statement, all went silent. Leonardo breathed heavily, trying to silently gasp for air and listen for the sounds of movement. He just needed...just needed a moment to catch his breath.

Augh, it was impossible.

With shaky hands, he reached to pull out his T-phone and proceeded to dial the cheese phone with a heavy heart. He failed. He failed his sensei, he failed as a leader, and worse yet, he failed as a brother. He was supposed to protect them and yet they lay around him in a worse wreck than he could ever think possible. "S-sensei..." He began, not waiting for Splinter to speak into the phone the moment he heard it answered, "I messed up..."  
"Leonardo?"  
"I really..." His phone slipped out of his hand as his chin burrowed into his chest. The phone fell to the ground with a clatter and left their sensei to call out to them a few times. It was useless. The pile of bodies strewn across the rooftop couldn't move even if they wanted to. Footsoldiers and turtles alike.

* * *

"Leonardo? Micelangelo! Raphael!? Donatello!" Splinter's search came to a screeching halt no more than five blocks away from the manhole entrance. It was worse than he had feared. "NO!" He raced to each of his sons and checked for a pulse. Though there, their sorry state had put him in a panic mode. "Leonardo!" He plucked him from the bags and tried to shake him awake, brushing the blood out of his eyes with a hand and clasping onto his open head wounds. "Wake up!"  
"Ung...Sensei...?"  
"What happened here?!"  
"Tiger Claw...Rahzar..." He brought a hand to his head and blinked a few times, trying to chase the darkness away without success. "Calm, my son." Splinter rested him back against the sand and scurried over to Donatello, prying him carefully away from the transformer and picking him up in both arms. How he seemed small...  
"Sensei...how's Mikey...?"  
"Quiet. How did it come to this..." Donatello was placed down beside Leo but he refused to stay down. His entire body was shaking from the transformer shocks, but he could still help. He wasn't too injured-  
"STAY DOWN!" Splinter yelled, balling his fists as he kept his back turned. Donnie's mouth gaped open as he stopped mid-stance. "Please..."  
"Sensei...I can help..."  
Splinter looked back into the determined face of Donatello and felt his heartstrings tug in all directions. He wasn't the best fighter at times, but he did always want to help in some way, shape, or form. "Help them." Splinter motioned to the others as he gingerly plucked Mikey out of his crater. Donnie nodded and tried standing again without much use. He needed his staff's support. "Sensei, I-"  
"It's alright, Donatello. Rest. There is no shame in resting." He walked over to him with the other turtle in his arms and laid him down. Last but not least was Raphael. He could already see the plating pried from his shell, but up close, he could tell that he needed help and fast. "I'll bring him down first. If you could call in for some help in the meanwhile, that would be much appreciated." Donnie nodded, watching as Splinter carried out the unconscious Raphael to the sewers.

It was going to be a long night.

**AN: Continuing on iiiiin the next chapter!**


	2. A Leader's Burden

**A Leader's Burden**

"Donnie? You're awake!"

A flash of yellow zipped by and Donatello felt something weigh down on his chest. A hiss of pain escaped him as he felt a pair of lips kissing his head. "Sorry! Sorry! Sensei, he's awake!"

It was April. Happiness bloomed in his chest as he focused on the approaching figure's shadow. Hazy at first, but then he came into better focus. "Sensei..."  
"I'm glad that you're awake, my son." He placed two fingers under his chin, trying to feel his pulse, and smiled in satisfaction. "How do you feel?"  
"Like a truck hit me." He replied, shaking his hands a bit at the remembrance of the shock that coursed through him earlier. "How're the others?"  
"Casey is still bringing Mikey back. Raph and Leo aren't..." April sighed, "they're not doing too good. We tried getting them to wake up, but it's been no use...here, sit up. Let me look at your shell. I think it cracked and I bought some binding agent to fix it and-"  
She went to lift him up and earned a yell of pain from him, stopping her in her tracks. Gasping, she let go and dropped both the glue and Donatello. He reeled in pain and grasped onto his side, trying to numben it some. "Oh my gosh, Donnie, I'm so sorry! Here, lemme-"  
"No! Stop!" He groaned as he held a hand out to her, "I know you have the best intentions, but please..."  
April frowned and sighed, sitting back in the couch beside Donnie and looked over at Splinter with sadness in her eyes. "Raph's shell...it can't be glued back on without the missing piece. I called an animal sanctuary a few hours away and they told me to treat it carefully and just...keep it clean. But I don't know what else to do with it." Donatello felt his heart leap into his mouth. Raph was missing a part of his shell?  
Sitting up with great discomfort, his eyes scanned the area for his brothers. Luckily, they were nearby. Though, the sight of them made his heart sink deep into his chest. "They're..."  
"They were not spared." Splinter finished his sentence, hearing a grunting noise coming from outside. In stumbled Casey with Mikey on his skateboard, his face red with strain. "You guys need to lose some serious weight."

"Mikey!"

Donatello momentarily forgot about his pain as he lept forwards towards the youngest brother, hands flailing everywhere as he tried to catch himself before he face planted on the ground while reaching forwards still. "He's out cold." Casey spoke, wiping sweat off his brow. Donnie's hand grasped onto his shell as he then looked over at Leo. He was covered in blood and sweat. He sported three gashes from his head to his neck and he suddenly felt very small. They could have died. Donnie looked up at Splinter, his eyes wide with fear, and he could sense his father's fear bear an even heavier weight on him. "I...we...were ambushed..."  
"We can talk tomorrow. Right now, we have to focus on your brothers." Splinter said, earning a nod from the tall turtle. He felt a surge of pain wrack through his shell as a weight was applied to it. "Sorry!"  
"Just don't touch the shell..." He felt bad for telling April not to touch him, but the pain was unbearable. "Uh...dudes? Raph's not doing too hot." Casey loomed over his hot-headed friend to see that he was writhing in pain. It was weird to see. "Move him to my lab." Donnie instructed, April quickly running over to get his staff to help him stand. If anyone could help them, it was him. He'd know what to do. He was Donatello, for crying out loud. He was good with everything he touched. Right..?  
"Thanks, April." Casey and Splinter picked Raphael off the ground and brought him to Donnie's lab, April helping Donnie make the harsh trek. He sat on his chair as gently as he could and winced a bit, looking over Raph through half-open eyes.

"He's in pain. I can give him something for it, but I'm not working with much." He began trying to clean out his wounds to make way for an antiseptic but his vision grew hazier by the minute. April's keen eye quickly caught on and she moved him out of the way. "Just tell me what to do." Donnie held onto his forehead, double vision slowly taking over. "Wash it out...stick him with this." He opened a drawer and screwed on a needle onto a syringe and placed it on the table. "Tape him up-" He couldn't say more. It was Splinter who reached out and caught the collapsed turtle and massaged the bridge of his nose. "This was a warning." He spoke to the two humans, watching April begin her quick work on his son.

"Message received."

Casey replied, his voice hollow as he took note of the poor condition of each one of them.

* * *

Raphael slowly awoke to his surroundings. He was aware of being awake, and his touch had come back to him rather quickly, but it was his sight that took a while to adjust. The room was kept dark for the teens to rest in. Hanging in the corner, though, leg swinging off a couch as he watched over his brothers, was Leonardo. He was pensive. Though their eyes locked, Raph doubted that he realized that he was awake. His torso was wrapped tightly with bandages and head tapes up with thick gauze. "Hey, Leo." The leader snapped out of his thoughts as he realized that his brother's eyes were staring back at him intently. "How's the shell-rot feel?"  
"Buzz off. I wouldn't get something that gross." He joked back, trying not to laugh too hard and rattle his shell. Groaning, he took hold of his chest and tried to sit up, Leonardo rushing to him and stopping him in his tracks. "Easy. We don't expect you to be on your feet right away." Leo hit the nail on the head as Raphael gave him a defeated look. He was the strongest turtle. It was without a doubt. But feeling as weak as he was now made him feel vulnerable as a whole. Like he didn't belong to be considered the strongest. "What happened to us, Leo?"  
"Rahzar and Tiger Claw wanted to send a message to sensei. We're not delivering it."  
"You'd think he'd get it now, Leo. He's not stupid. There's no way we could have survived unless they wanted us to." Leo let out an exhasperated sigh and nodded. "I know. But we're still not saying anything to sensei. We'll deal with it ourselves." Leo placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and offered him a smile, Raph returning it haphazardly.  
"So...what happened after I blacked- Mikey? Is he alright?"  
"He's fine. Rustled up some, but he'll be bouncing around before we know it." Raph let out a ragged sigh and looked over at the sleeping Michelangelo. "Donnie?"  
"He was awake first. Battered up, but he'll be fine." Raph listened to the explanation and motioned to his brother's head with an upwards nod, "and you?"  
"Stupid mistake. I'm fine."  
A groaning noise heard to their side signaled them that Mikey had awoken to the voices. "Dude...worst. Headache. Ever. Ugh...my shoulder...bros, we totally got spanked." The older brothers looked down at him and watched him flex his hand open and close, testing his shoulder muscle a bit. "Raph! Where's-" Mikey looked over at Raph and saw his plastron gauzed up and bound tightly, his eyes widening. "Dude...that looks painful."  
"It is." Raph replied, Leo helping him stand and garnering a pained yell. "Don't move him, guys! I'm researching!" Donatello yelled from his lab, a faint blue glow emanating from it. Leo laid him back down with a apologetic smile. Mikey stood up and groaned, cracking his shoulder a bit while rubbing it. He had gotten away easy compared to his other brothers.  
"You're all awake."  
Their ninjustsu master had walked in with a tray of tea in his hands. "Master..."  
"Leonardo, when you are well enough, I wish to speak with you."  
"Hai, sensei."  
"As for the rest of you," his scrutinizing eyes fell upon the three of them in the room, barring Donatello as he worked in his lab, "I am very glad that you are alive."  
This wasn't praise. He was relieved as a father, but they had failed as his students.  
"It is my fault that you are not strong enough. We will train harder before you resurface when you can."  
"Sensei, no, it isn't your fault. We should have run when we had the chance," Leo began, feeling the weight of failure as a leader bear down on his shoulders, "and I shouldn't have let them get so hurt. We were vulnerable."  
The silence in the air was thick. Even Donatello had crept out of his lab and stood at the threshold to face his master. It made his stomach churn just thinking about how badly they had failed and how things could have gone much worse.  
"Sensei...we did the best we could." Donnie spoke up now, trying to alleviate the weight from Leo's shoulders. It was his fault too. He was a ninja as well. Just because his strength lay with science and engineering didn't mean that his ninja duties could be shirked. "We stopped being ninjas when we realized that one of us was getting hurt more than the other or that someone passed out. We wanted to protect each other as brothers do but..."  
"What brainiac's trying to say is that we screwed up because we tried playing defense instead of offense. We got in each other's way." Raph's blunt statement made the others shift uncomfortably in shame. He was right.  
"We're just not strong enough for Tiger Claw and Rahzar fighting together, sensei." Mikey chimed in, Splinter's eyes falling onto the younger one. Without a word, he approached them and sat on the ground cross-legged, placing the tray of tea before him. He laid out each set and poured some of the sweet smelling liquid in each cup and held out a hand to them, inviting them into his circle. Hesitantly, they looked at each other and pulled in close, Leo helping Raph.  
"Bradford and Tiger Claw do not fight with honor. That does not mean that fighting with honor means that you have failed. Protecting each other is more important than winning a fight against the enemy. I tell you this as your father." He watched his sons sit in quiet pain and felt a stab of sadness.  
"I should have better trained you. Long have ninjas been cold hearted warriors of the night...but not you. You are my children. I will not see it so. It is not so bad to be concerned for one another. But do not forget, my sons, that your training will also help you help each other. This has proven to be a good lesson to all of us."  
When he fell silent, the silence lingered except for Mikey sipping noisily at his tea. A few moments passed before Leo spoke up.  
"I'm sorry, sensei, but what lesson? How to get beaten up?"  
"No, Leonardo. A lesson that I must teach you how to fight and trust in one another and, more importantly, yourself, if one, or more, of you goes down."  
The tension in the room did not ease up. It was clear what he meant now. If one of them were to go down, then they would still have to fight if they needed to.  
"Hai...sensei." Leonardo stared down into his tea, his fingers clenching the cup tightly. He didn't want to learn how to do anything without his brothers. The thought of that made his skin crawl. Taking a sip of his tea, his eyes fell on each of his brothers with a heavy heart. Raphael, Micelangelo, and Donatello. If Mikey went down, they'd have to continue. If Donnie went down, they'd have to continue. If Raph went down, still then, they'd have to continue. They couldn't be swayed lest they'd lose the fight and everything they were fighting for.  
Even if that meant losing a brother.

**AN: Chapter two! Enjoy, folks. I'm hoping to keep these chapters pumping out.**


	3. Path to Failure

**Path to Failure**

"...So if we find your missing shell piece, we can wire you up and slap on a few patches of fiberglass and epoxy you're pretty much patched up. I read up a blog where they fixed up a box turtle in the same way. It should work for you-for us-in the future."  
"And I'm the experiment to see if it works or not."  
"Well...technically, yes...but-"  
"So then let's do it." Raph shrugged with one shoulder, trying to keep his left side as immobile as possible. If he wasn't sleeping, he was under heavy painkillers. His exposed underside of his shell was painful and he'd do anything to keep even a breeze away from it. Donnie was trying to find other references to learn on how to repair a shell but it was just too much of an odd topic to research that there wasn't much. All he knew was that he had to try and fix his brother. Raph wasn't the kind to show how much pain he was in and it worried him.  
"The problem is that we have to resurface to pick up the missing piece..." Leonardo had walked in, taking a look at Raph sitting on the cot in Donnie's lab. He had a heating lamp directly pointed on it to try and keep it comfortable for his brother but would never admit to it.  
"Yes...well...I was hoping we could go as soon as possible..."  
"No one is going anywhere a day after what happened. Especially not you, Raph."  
"Wasn't even gonna suggest it," he held a hand up defensively, "this ain't no fun."  
"No one." Leonardo emphasized, sizing down Donatello who just sighed in defeat and waved him away. "Yeah, we get you. I'll ask April and Casey to run into town for us then. Should be easy enough." His voice was laden with fatigue, but there was no time to rest. At least not yet for him. "But I don't like it." He added to his sentence, "if they go, they're doing this for us. It'd be in poor taste to not help them."  
"They have the T-phone if they need help. We don't go up there again until we're ready. I mean it, Donn."  
Donnie threw him the angriest look he could muster and dialed out April's number, face strewn back in a blend of disgust and anger. Raph knew that Donnie's anger would wash away just as quickly as it came to him. It's the way he was.  
"I'm going to see master Splinter. Don't be stupid without me around."  
"Wouldn't dream of it." Raph called after him, grinning sideways.

* * *

Leonardo approached his sensei with apprehension. He knew what was going to happen.  
"Sit."  
Splinter's voice was unflinching. It was hard to get a reading off him as he sat there meditating, hands resting on his knees and eyes shut. Without wanting to anger him, Leo knelt in front of him under the large tree and waited for his lecture with closed eyes. After about two minutes of waiting, he opened them to see if Splinter had moved from his position. To his surprise, he had merely opened his eyes and stared down at his son for who knows how long. Taken aback, he pursed his lips and waited once more.  
"How are you feeling?"  
"Fine..." Splinter raised a brow and folded his hands inside his sleeves, giving Leo a chance to change his statement. With a heavy sigh, he caved in.  
"No, not fine. So far from fine." Splinter closed his eyes once more, allowing the leader to vent out his emotions. "Raph almost died! Mikey got stabbed through with Donnie's weapon and I haven't even seen him around today. Donnie's been trying to piece Raph back together after getting I don't know how many volts of electricity through him. Bradford and Tiger Claw are both out there ready to turn us into turtle soup, and all I could do was try and not have them all killed at once!" His shoulders heaved up and down by this point as he stared at both his hands. "I knew being their leader meant taking care of them, by any means necessary, but how do you stop them from getting killed if you're trying to not get killed yourself? Sensei, I failed. I failed them and I failed you."  
He couldn't look up at his teacher now. It was embarrassing. It was ridiculous.  
"You made me leader because I chose, Sensei, but I didn't know it'd mean having to watch every single one of them get beaten within an inch of their lives. I'm sorry. It shouldn't have happened."  
Silence. Frustrating silence and Leo wanted to fill the void but let it linger.  
"You did not answer my question," Splinter finally spoke, "how do you feel?"  
The blue turtle looked up, locking eyes with his sensei before returned them downwards. How did he feel?  
"Ow!" A sudden weight on his head made him flinch backwards. Splinter's hand had rested easily on top of his head, making him realize what he meant. "You are in pain?"  
"Well...only if you touch it..."  
"And you feel like you have failed everyone?"  
He fell silent.  
"Yes?"  
"Hai, sensei..."  
"And you feel sorry for this?" Leo nodded curtly, keeping his lips tightly locked together. Splinter placed his hands on his shoulders and smiled. "That is why you are a leader."  
"What?"  
"You feel the burden of a real leader and aren't afraid to act upon it. But you must not be so selfless and forget yourself, Leonardo. Do not forget that as a leader, you must also take care of yourself. Your brothers need you at your best."  
"Hai...sensei..."  
"Good." He looked up at his sensei with a smile and nodded, Splinter pulling him in for a hug. "And as your father, I am glad that you are alright. All of you." Leonardo hugged him back, feeling small in his arms.

* * *

Wide blue eyes followed the two humans as they scoured the rooftops for the missing shell piece. His shoulder was wrapped tight, but other than that, he was ready to fight. It wasn't fair that he had to be so protected last fight, the least he could do was make sure that his human friends didn't get the same treatment his brothers received. If anything, they wouldn't be out another night, would they?  
"I've got it!"  
April's voice sent a smile shooting across Mikey's face. It was about time. He stood up and turned on his heel, about to make his way back to the sewers when he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks. Slowly, he turned and came face to face with a familiar looming mutant fish.  
"Uh, gotta-" He let out a yell as electricity coursed through him from behind. Fishface grinned and began unfurling rope, watching the turtle pass out.  
"Did you hear something?" April asked Casey, earning a shrug and proceeding to the nearest manhole cover.

* * *

"Guess who's back!?" April ran into the turtle's living room, finding Leo fast asleep on the cough with his head dangling over the back. "Oh...Donnie? Donnie, I found it!" She crept around back into Donnie's lab and opened the door. Raph had fallen fast asleep under the warm lamp and Donnie had earbuds in to drown out the snoring as he worked on setting up ingredients and tools that he'd need to patch up his brother.  
"DONNIE!"  
Casey's yell definitely had the desired effect in gaining both Donnie and Raph's attention, though another anguished yell expelled out of Raph after falling out of the cot. "Oh boy..."  
"Casey JONES-"  
"Raph, we found your shell!" April jumped in between the two hot-heads about to break out into a war and held up the piece with a triumphant grin. Raph groaned as he sat back down under the warm lamp, feeling the heat giving him some strength. "Great! So Donnie can get straight to work, right Donn?"  
"You bet! Just keep Mikey out...I'm gonna be using power tools. And whatever you hear, don't come in."  
"Wait, what? Power tools? Donn..." Raph warned, his voice low but Donnie waved his hands in front of him. "I told you it was experimental!" He defended, earning a growl from his brother. "Fine. Do it." He finally caved. April pushed an excited Casey out of the room and slammed the door behind her, eyes scanning the area for Mikey. "At least he isn't in the way...where is he anyways?"  
"Who knows. That guy is everywhere. I'll check to see if he's waiting on pizza or something." Casey walked his lanky teenage walk towards the upper entrance to find the youngest turtle. April checked out the kitchen and rooms, finding nothing. Her eyes widened as she spun on her heel towards Leo, taking hold of his shoulder and shaking him awake. "Where's Mikey!?"  
"Huh...wha...Mikey? Did you check his room? Wait, didn't you go out?"  
"We came back? How long have you been asleep? Never mind that, didn't you see Mikey at all?" Leo sprang forward and scanned the lair, his eyes widening at the sounds of screaming. His entire body turned towards Donnie's lab but April took hold of his shoulder, "it's just Raph getting his shell back on."  
"Mikey's not up...top...oh no..." Casey came to a halt at the sight of a Mikey-less living area. Without a moment's hesitation, Leo pulled out his T-phone and rang up his little brother, impatiently tapping at his elbow. When he heard the line pick up, he refrained from yelling at him. In general, he just waited until he heard a strangled voice say "T-phone, self-destruct..." and then static. His eyes widened as he looked back at April and Casey, his blood turning into ice.  
"Mikey's in trouble..."

**AN: Short because I felt like I should have added this to the last chapter. So uh...it's a 2.5? Sorry about that. I don't have microsoft word, so I'm not quite getting my numbers counted per chapter like I normally would.**


End file.
